Under a Patriots-style arrangement, the situation could have worked if Mangini had final say over the roster and the draft, and if Mangini and Kokinis worked together to build consensus on players and draft picks.

But we’ve been reminded tonight that, in order to finagle Kokinis away from the Ravens, the Browns had to give final say to Kokinis. And the Browns did, at least in theory.

The problem? Kokinis apparently believed that his contract meant what it said regarding the extent of his authority.

And so we’re told that Kokinis and Mangini repeatedly butted heads, and that their friendship quickly disintegrated due to their inability to reach an agreement on multiple personnel decisions.

It remains to be seen what will happen next. ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen report that Lerner hopes to hire Ernie Accorsi as a consultant. We’ve heard some speculation that Accorsi might already be involved, even though Accorsi recommended Kokinis for the job.

In fact, one publication already is reporting that Accorsi will take over as the team’s General Manager.

This is much more exciting than the Falcons/Saints on MNF, or Cliff Lee getting another win in the World Series!

greenbayrocks567 says:Nov 2, 2009 11:48 PM

Do they want Ted Thompson?

Ravensfan410 says:Nov 3, 2009 12:01 AM

The Browns are a joke….. They should move them to Baltimore again. Make them the Ravens B squad

daffy87 says:Nov 3, 2009 12:34 AM

I surely hope Lerner gets Accorsi to be the GM. The guy is a legitimate general manager with a great track record. He built the roster for the Browns that went to the AFC championship with Kosar. He built the 2007 Giants team that won the superbowl. Hiring him to run thigns would be a huge step in the right direction and would make me, as a life long Browns fan, feel much more comfortable about our long-term future.

Asswipe Johnson (Pronounced Az-Wee-Pay) says:Nov 3, 2009 1:20 AM

If only Lerner had half a brain, he would have kept Ron Wolf on at the personnel consultant job title he hired Wolf for back in ’02.
But instead Lerner let the idiot savant Butch Davis and his crony Pete Garcia run Wolf out of town.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda…

progunk says:Nov 3, 2009 1:24 AM

The hiring of Ernie Accorsi as the defacto GM is a solid start for Randy Lerner in turning himself around. I say himself because it is he that had to have a long dark look into his soul and come to terms with his stepchild of a franchise, the Cleveland Browns. An old school Football guy is what the team has sorely lacked, and Accorsi’s presence probably has Mangini soiling himself already. The Browns are better off w/o Tweedledumb and will be w/o Tweedledumber at the end of the season. Mangini has done the almost impossible task of taking a bad football team and making them worse. Most fans knew it when he passed on Maualuga, and drafted another WR in the 2nd round instead of Phil Loadholt, who was still available. Accorsi built the Giants team that won it all in 2007. W/O the talent that he drafted, Jerry Reese would look alot like George Kokinis. Accorsi also knows Cleveland from his first stint as their GM during the Dawgpound days. He hired Marty and the Chin. Hell, he hired Coughlin in NY. He’s a poorman’s Parcells with a bad toupee to boot. Right now, Browns fans could care less if he had a huge goiter hanging from his neck. If he can bring the long sought after stability to the team, we could care less how many games they win. We just want the national embarrassment to stop. Now if he could just tease the Chin into coming back to town. The Burgh stole Chuck Noll from the Browns decades ago. It seems fitting that the tables are turned. Mangini will be gone by January 3rd at the latest and we can look forward to our season of hope. The 2010 NFL Draft.

HBOilers24 says:Nov 3, 2009 2:04 AM

IF Ernie Accorsi has been hired as a consultant/GM then i will at least half take back all the things i’ve said about Lerner.
Lerner’s big problem has been that he wanted to have some kind of direct line to the team. he shouldnt. he could finally be doing the right thing which is sign his checkbook to get a guy who is a football guy with previous success. his next step should be a public apology to browns fans and the promise to do whatever he can (really this time) to make cleveland a winner.

Aequitas says:Nov 3, 2009 4:15 AM

I think a friend of mine put it aptly when he said that franchise is some kind of real-life Lord of the Flies experiment.

firesnake says:Nov 3, 2009 4:59 AM

Does Mangini want to push the blame towards Kokinis now that the latter is out the building, or what are your sources telling you the two repeatedly engaged in conversations Cable-Style (the head-butting way)

Florio-is-a-tool says:Nov 3, 2009 6:40 AM

Yeah Mike they were kind of like Romeo and Juliette. Tragic really – except when one takes into consideration was a sleaze bag Mangini is. But that’s a trivial matter in this overall epic story…

HappyBunny says:Nov 3, 2009 7:42 AM

In fact, one publication already is reporting that Accorsi will take over as the team’s General Manager.
Oh no! Who will cause me to drowsily almost drive off the road while listening to “SIRIUS NFL Radio!”?

JoeSixPack says:Nov 3, 2009 9:10 AM

Yup… it’s Kokinis’ fault that all the re-cycled Jets have been brought to the Browns… no way would MangIdiot have wanted that…
Just like Tannenbaum forced MangIdiot to name his son after Brett Favre and accept him as the choking QB of the Jets last year…

JoeSixPack says:Nov 3, 2009 9:11 AM

So a former Defensive Coordinator of the Patriots and a Personnel guy from the Ravens didn’t work out well for the Browns?
Who ever could have seen that coming.

texasPHINSfan says:Nov 3, 2009 12:03 PM

i’m willing to bet that Kokinis was the smarter & more reasonable of the two.
Keep dooming yourselves to mediocrity, browns.
i feel sorry for browns fans. too bad you can’t have a coup to usurp that owner & coach.